By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Brownsville soccer teams displayed some scoring firepower in winning their district games Tuesday night.
There were some lopsided matches, especially for District 32-5A girls, as Pace defeated Mercedes 7-0, Porter triumphed over Donna North 7-3 and Lopez blanked Donna High 5-0.
On the boys side, Rivera shut out Harlingen High 7-0 in a District 32-6A match, while St. Joseph Academy dispatched Port Isabel 5-1 in a non-district game.
It’s believed to be the first time the Porter girls have scored that many goals in a district match.
“It was an awesome feeling seeing the girls play their hearts out and scoring all those goals against a really tough team like Donna North,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said. “I’m really proud of our girls because even though we did score seven goals, Donna North was not easy to score on. It was really a good game, and at one point, they almost tied us (when we led 4-3).”
The Porter girls were ahead 3-0 at halftime, but Donna North rallied and pulled to within 4-3 after the Cowgirls had added another goal. Then the Porter girls scored their final three goals to make it 7-3.
Priscila Cortinas led the Cowgirls with four goals. Teammates Lizbeth Garacia, Carloa Longoria and Christy Herbet each added one.
“Hopefully this puts us back on track,” said Gracia, whose Cowgirls are now 1-2 in district with four points.
Playing at Mercedes, the Pace girls led only 1-0 at halftime before coming alive to score six more goals in the second half.
Kryssie Rivera led the Lady Vikings with four goals. Also scoring for Pace were Kenia Galvan, Ariana Garcia and Eileen Rodriguez.
“Any win is good, especially one in this district,” Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal said. “We’re taking every game seriously. I’m happy for the girls. They’re working hard.”
Playing at home against Donna High, the Lopez girls were sparked offensively by two goals apiece from Kiara Garcia and Carla Gracia along with one from Jaky Olivares.
Since winning one of the brackets in the Brownsville ISD Tournament last month, the Rivera boys have displayed some scoring prowess, particularly in 32-6A action.
Against Harlingen High on Tuesday at Sams Memorial Stadium, the Raiders surged to a 3-0 halftime lead before winning 7-0. The goal scorers for Rivera included Julian Espinoza (three), Ivan Cruz (two), Ramiro Rodarte (one) and Adrian Mireles (one).
Including the 6A and 5A teams for boys and girls from Brownsville plus those from Los Fresnos, their combined record in district on Tuesday was 10-2 as they outscored opponents 55-17.
DISTRICT LEADERS
After two games in 32-6A, the leaders for the boys are Los Fresnos (2-0) and Rivera (2-0), each with six points. The 32-6A leaders for the girls are Weslaco East (2-0), Los Fresnos (2-0) and Hanna (2-0), each also with six points.
Three matches have been played in 32-5A and the leaders for the boys are Brownsville Veterans Memorial (3-0) and Porter (3-0), each with nine points. For the 32-5A girls, the lone leader is Lopez (3-0) with eight points.
LIVING ON THE EDGE
At the other end of the Valley, nine-team District 31-5A already has played five games and the Mission Veterans Lady Patriots are walking a narrow line between victory and defeat.
Out of their five 31-5A matches, the Lady Patriots have gone to penalty kicks three times already and have won each one. It’s given them a 4-1 record with nine points.
Sharyland High and Sharyland Pioneer are tied for the 31-5A girls lead with 4-0 records and 12 points apiece. They play each other Friday night at Sharyland Pioneer.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess